Council looks to trim budget

The Daily Inter Lake

Interim City Manager Myrt Webb is recommending that Kalispell trim its 2008-'09 general fund by $466,000 to head off a predicted shortfall.

The Kalispell City Council will discuss that recommendation tonight during a workshop session at which no votes are legally allowed.

The shortfall is caused by the economy producing less income than expected in September, when the council adopted the budget.

And this raises the question about how the city should prioritize its expenses.

Several Kalispell city department heads will discuss next week how to cut 5.6 percent from their 2008-'09 budgets.

The city's overall budget is slightly more than $52 million, of which $41.882 million are locked into programs with specific revenues and expenses.

The wiggle room is in the general fund, with property taxes plus other revenues providing the money.

The general fund pays for firefighters, police officers and parks employees, plus some Planning Department, Municipal Court and city workers, as well as the salaries for council members.

Actually, about 80 percent of the general fund goes to people costs.

That raises the likelihood of general-fund cuts translating to staff cuts.

However, in a memo to the council, Webb wrote that job cuts typically cause short-term personnel-cost increases to handle severance and other expenses. "In the short run, when personnel are involved, it is expensive to save money," he wrote.

In September, the council adopted a $10.654 million general-fund budget after at least four months of slow, agonizing trimming.

The council avoided dipping into its cash reserves to balance the general fund. Kalispell's cash reserves were roughly $474,000 in September. A rule of thumb is that a city of Kalispell's size should have at least $1 million in cash reserves - and preferably $1.5 million.

Webb wrote that if the city general-fund expenses continue as planned, the cash reserves could be gobbled up, and the fund could end up in the red.

Trimming $466,00 from the general fund projected expenses would theoretically keep the cash reserves steady at $474,000 -assuming no additional major expenses show up, Webb wrote.

Also at 7 p.m. today, the council is scheduled to:

. Discuss whether to force KGEZ radio station owner John Stokes to move his two broadcast towers at the city and federal governments' expense.

The 325-foot towers are in airspace south of the Kalispell City Airport that the Federal Aviation Administration says must be cleared for the airport to received federal funds.

Stokes wants more money to move the towers than the city wants to pay. In a memo, Webb and Airport Manager Fred Leistiko called Stokes' price "exorbitant."

The city has acquired an option to buy 20 acres - the location was not in the memo - to move the towers without damaging KGEZ's broadcast coverage.

Easements on three pieces of land are needed to bury the towers' underground radial wiring. Two landowners have tentatively agreed, and the third is reviewing the proposal, Leistiko and Webb wrote.

If the city receives approval from the third landowner, Webb and Leistiko want the council to tell them how to proceed if Stokes does not agree to move the towers.

The project is estimated to cost $500,000. The FAA likely would provide most of the money - with the rest from the city.

. Discuss the council's concerns about proposed road-impact fees.

Last week, the city's impact fee advisory committee had questions about specifics of the council's concerns about its studies and figures, and Webb wants to nail down those specifics.